The New Mexico Jazz Festival is pleased to partner, for the third year, with Dave’s Jazz Bistro for the third year for a special Jazz dinner which will feature an exclusive menu crafted by the skilled Chef Peter O’Brian at Dave’s Jazz Bistro and the Santa Fe School of Cooking.

This year, the concert features the recent Grammy Award winning vocalist Carmen Bradford, who has performed at the Bistro several times before and was last heard at the 2022 New Mexico Jazz Festival with the Doug Lawrence Sextet. Bradford is the daughter of legendary trumpeter Bobby Bradford and renowned vocalist Melba Joyce and the granddaughter of vocalist Melvin Moore.

Hired by Count Basie in 1982, Carmen Bradford spent 9 years with the band as the featured vocalist, returning again in 2008 continuing to perform with them to this day.

As a freelance artist, Bradford has worked with a veritable “who’s who” of performers including Wynton Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Joe Williams, James Brown, Patti Austin, Lou Rawls and countless other artists and orchestras around the world. She is currently head of vocal jazz at the prestigious San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her latest release in 2024, Carmen Sings Carmen with the Compass Jazz Orchestra, pays homage to the legendary Carmen McCrae, further cementing her position as a leading figure in contemporary jazz.

Accompanying Bradford will be her longtime friend and associate, pianist John Rangel (also the music curator at Dave’s Jazz Bistro) plus Cyrus Campbell, bass and Rich Malloy, drums. $185 per person.

Tickets and more info at https://santafeschoolofcooking.com/daves-jazz-bistro/